


one single thread of gold (tied me to you)

by interstellarbeams



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, If You Squint - Freeform, Kie and JJ meant to be in whatever universe, Pick-Up Lines, Strangers to Lovers, i said what i said, mentions of Pope Heyward, mentions of Sarah Cameron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26277202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interstellarbeams/pseuds/interstellarbeams
Summary: Kie’s just trying to wind down after a long day at work, she doesn’t have the time (or the energy) for random strangers and their tired pickup lines.
Relationships: JJ & Kiara (Outer Banks), JJ Maybank & Kiara Carrera, JJ/Kiara (Outer Banks)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 84





	one single thread of gold (tied me to you)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Lara and K for all their support during this. Hope my whining wasn’t too annoying. 😜 And no worries, next up is part two to _when everyone is gone (you’re still here)_. 😁
> 
> dialogue prompt was: “I know how this goes. First you buy me a drink, then you tell me how pretty I look, and then, at the end of the night, you ask for my number.” 
> 
> Kudos and comments are appreciated! 💕

a string that pulled me  
out of all the wrong arms, right into that dive bar  
something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire  
chains around my demons  
wool to brave the seasons  
one single thread of gold  
tied me to you

_invisible string_ — taylor swift

————

Kie hadn’t had plans to meet anyone that night. She just wanted to enjoy a margarita or two after her stressful week, then go home to change into her pj’s and enjoy a pint of Ben & Jerry’s in front of the tv. 

She probably should have gone home to the light green bottle of margarita mix, half empty bottle of Mezcal and her roommate's expensive Ninja but instead she had come here. 

The bar was a favorite of the local college kids and the working class twenty-somethings that lived and worked in the city. Kie wasn’t new to the area and recognized a few guys that she had hooked up with when she was lonely, low on funds and self esteem but she didn’t even spare them a glance as she sipped from her glass. 

The door opened and a rowdy group of guys who were around her age piled in. Kie kept her gaze trained on the blue rim of her glass and watched the play of bright pink and neon green lights play out over the bar top instead of paying them any attention. 

She crossed her legs and sighed, tossing her long hair over one shoulder, wishing she had gone home an hour earlier, but her boss had kept her after hours with some bullshit about spreadsheets not being done correctly, which was really an excuse to keep Kie around so he could ogle her. _Disgusting._

She glanced up when someone came up to the bar and leaned against the counter like he owned the place. His blond hair was messy, like he had been running his fingers through it continuously, and his jawline was nicely defined. The hand that rested against the edge of the bar had slim fingers, with an interesting variety of rings gracing them. He nodded at her and she offered him a brief lifting of her lips, barely a smile, as he ordered a round.

Kie took another sip of her drink, figuring the guy, whoever he was, would move off now that his order had been put in, but he continued to lounge next to her like he had nothing better to do with his time. She rolled her eyes, turning to him before he could even attempt to speak. 

“I know how this goes. First you buy me a drink, then you tell me how pretty I look and then, at the end of the night, you ask for my number.”

“Actually, I was gonna ask for your address… you’re Sarah Cameron’s roommate, right?”

Kie knew it wasn’t polite but the first thing that came out of her mouth was, “ _huh_?” 

“Sarah Cameron. Heiress to the Cameron shipping company and all around do-gooder and flower child. You live with her, right? You’re...Kiara.” He snapped his fingers like he just remembered and Kie had no idea how this random guy who she had never seen before in her life knew who she was.

“Kiara Carerra, yeah. And you are…?” 

His eyes lit with a mischievous gleam and despite the dim bar and the neon signs that peppered the walls she couldn’t help but notice the beautiful blue of his irises.

“JJ. Maybank.” 

“And you know me how?” She found herself fiddling with her cocktail napkin, glancing towards the door just in case she needed to make a run for it. _Who knew what kind of creep this guy might end up being._

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” He huffed out a laugh, wrinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes. _If he is a creepy stalker at least he’s good at it, those blue eyes probably reel in hundreds of girls to feeling a false sense of security_ , she found herself thinking.

“John B Routledge, Sarah’s boyfriend. He’s my best friend.”

“Oh. Right, John B’s friend.” She said, though she still wasn’t sure how he had connected her to Sarah, randomly, at a bar on a Wednesday evening. 

“He’s got tons of photos on his phone of Sarah and him together. Y’all must hang out cause I’ve seen you in a few of the photos.” 

“Yeah, I mean. I’ve spent some time with John B. He’s cool.” Kie shrugged like it was no big deal, but she was still not one hundred percent sure about this JJ guy. Just because John B trusted him, didn’t mean she had to.

The bartender came over with a round and JJ’s attention was diverted from her. He walked off, bringing back one of the other guys in the rowdy group to help him round up the drinks and she thought she was off the hook as he moved off, deftly balancing an open beer under one arm and carrying three shots in each hand. She was vaguely impressed but turned back to her phone and noticing the time, she stood, wobbling slightly on her heels. She laid a tip down beside her mostly empty glass, offering a friendly nod to the bartender. She was just about to turn towards the door when JJ waltzed back over, but instead of leaning against the bar like he had earlier, he laid a hand along the back of her bar stool, deftly boxing her in.

“Um— what are you doing?” She asked, incredulously, fingers tightening on her handbag.

“Oh, shit! Sorry.” He moved back so that she could move out from between the two chairs and she pulled at her skirt, straightening it nervously. “John B keeps telling me that I’m way too comfortable invading his personal space. I didn’t realize I did it with complete strangers too.”

“Right.” Kie eyed him, wary but the way his hair flopped over his forehead made him look as trustworthy as a golden retriever puppy, though she held the opinion that he wasn’t as innocent as he appeared. 

“It’s just— there’s this really important _item_ that John B borrowed from me and apparently he left it at your apartment. I really need to get it. Could you maybe help me out? I know this is kind of weird, me coming up to you like this in a dark bar, but I would really, _really_ appreciate it.”

“I don’t know.” Sarah wasn’t home, she was out on a date painting pottery with John B and Kie didn’t think she would be happy if she didn’t follow their rules about visitors. Nevermind that JJ wasn’t _that_ type of guest, and to be honest, it had been awhile since Kie has brought anyone back to the apartment. Sarah had so helpfully pointed it out this morning, her overly opinionated words delivered over top of her glass of fresh squeezed orange juice with a golden plumping mask adorning her roundish face. 

He apparently realized she was still wavering on whether to trust him or not, licking his lips as he looked over her shoulder. A dimple popped out in one cheek as he pressed his lips together, lost in thought, and she found herself hoping that he would do it again. The dimples lent a boyishness to his lean and rangy profile, the innocent expression in sharp contrast to his worldly image. 

“Here. Why don’t I call JB? You can talk to him and he’ll tell you I’m not some kind of weird stalker. Just a guy in desperate need of a break.”

“Yeah. Okay.” 

He tapped on his phone for a moment and Kiara shifted her weight. He motioned her to follow him as he moved outside, the loudness of the crowd and the music blaring overhead fading as the door closed behind them.

Kie sank down onto a park bench out front with a relieved sigh and watched as JJ paced up and down the sidewalk in front of her, waiting for his friend to pick up. 

“Hey, man. No, yeah, I’m at the bar. No, actually, I wanted you to talk to someone. You know Sarah’s roommate. She’s here and I— well, yeah.” He laughed, his eyes shifting towards where she sat and she had a feeling he had just been asked a question about her. She wasn’t sure whether she was a fan of him talking about her when she was sitting right there but it’s not like she could do anything about it. “No, bro, will you _please_ , just tell her that I’m not a crazy person?” 

He shook his head as he handed her the phone and Kie almost jerked away from him when he dropped to sit down next to her, practically glueing himself to her side. She shot him a _seriously_ look, but he leaned so that he reclined against the back of the bench, throwing his arm casually across the paint splattered metal. 

_What the hell?_

“Hello.”

“Hey.” John B’s voice was familiar, deep and reassuring. “Kie. Look, JJ’s not crazy. Well, actually he is practically wild, but he isn’t gonna hurt you or anything. If you feel okay with it, invite him over to the apartment. Sarah and I will be back soon, besides he’s really a lot of fun, once you get used to him.”

“Why is he so desperate to get— well, whatever it is? I really have no clue.” 

“It’s just a JJ thing. You’ll get used to it.” Kie wasn’t sure she wanted to get used to his anything but John B seemed to think it was okay and she really didn’t want to spend any more time at the bar. If JJ wanted to come over, well, he was welcome to. She just hoped that he would retrieve whatever he was after and leave her to enjoy the rest of her weeknight evening alone.

————

Calling for an Uber completely slipped Kie’s mind and so they had to wait an extra ten minutes for a driver in their vicinity to show up. 

She tapped her fingers against her phone case as she waited but it was nothing compared to JJ’s constant movement — he tapped his fingers against his legs, scuffed the toes of his boots against the pavement, ran his hands through his hair and finally, reached into his pocket for a lighter which he insisted on opening and closing over and over despite the glare that she directed at him. He either seemed not to notice or was deliberately ignoring her, thankfully the lighter went back into his pocket when their Uber pulled up to the curb in front of them. 

She climbed in first and JJ followed after her. Thankfully, the driver didn’t try to talk to them as they moved through the city, the street lights illuminating the inside of the car and then the interior descended into shadows as they rode through a thoroughfare and then into a tunnel.

“I’m not a big fan of tunnels.” JJ spoke for the first time in ten minutes, surprising her and she turned to look at him. “I mean, it’s cool once I'm out of them, but one time I was stuck in a traffic jam inside of one of the downtown tunnels… I almost had a panic attack.”

“Oh, that sucks.”

JJ shrugged. “It is what it is.”

Kie looked down into her lap. The silence between them wasn’t awkward per se but she felt like it might have been easier for them to be alone together if they actually knew anything about each other. Maybe she could change that.

“I’m afraid of clowns. That and needles. You won’t catch me near a blood drive for anything in the world. I have to donate funds to the Red Cross instead. I just— can’t.”

“I’m a Cancer.” JJ added, leaning his elbow onto the leather armrest under the window. “And I spent two years in the first grade instead of one. I was a scrawny kid so I looked the part.”

“I’m a Virgo. I’ve never spent any time at a stay away camp but as soon as I turned eighteen, I rented an apartment with Sarah and moved in.”

“So you've been friends for awhile. That’s cool. I’ve known John B since third, so, yeah.” 

The car came to a stop and they climbed out, JJ thanking the driver in a lackadaisical way. He used the words _dude_ and _bro_ a lot which was kind of strange but also endearing. Kie could probably get used to it. Not even giving her thought process a second thought. _Who knew if she would even have the chance to see him again after this but apparently, deep down, she was hopeful._

JJ walked along beside her, beating a tattoo against the metal siding in the elevator as they rode to her floor. He tossed his head, pushing his bangs back from his forehead and in the fluorescent light she noticed a slight widow's peak on his forehead and a small scar by the corner of one eyebrow.

 _Should I really be paying such close attention to him?_ she thought. He seemed oblivious to her scrutiny but she could feel his eyes on her as she walked down the hall and stepped up to the door to her apartment. _Fair is fair, I guess._

“Home sweet home.” 

Her keychain jingled as she removed the key from the lock and JJ stepped through the door carefully, like he expected a booby trap to come crashing down on him. 

“It’s okay. I promise we didn’t leave any bras hanging from the shower rod or anything.”

“That I’d love to see.” He raised an eyebrow comically and she couldn’t help but laugh despite his rather inappropriate comment.

“Come on.” She replied, moving further into the apartment. She rested her hand against one of the walls to remove her high heel sandals, dropping them to the floor without a thought and stepped into the kitchen on bare feet. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Sure. Uh, do you have any beer?” JJ leaned up against the counter like he had at the bar and she had to wonder if his spine was going to permanently curve into that position. 

Kie wrinkled her nose as she opened the fridge door. “Sorry. Fresh out of beer. Wine spritzer?”

“Wine spritzer?” He made a face that frankly resembled the one she had just made. _Weird._ “Nah. I’m good.” 

Kie rolled her eyes, but caught a glimmer of amusement in his eyes and had to shake her head at his reaction to hers.

“We’ve got some Mezcal around here somewhere. Is that ‘manly’ enough for you?”

“As a matter of fact, it is.” He smirked at her and she shoved him in the shoulder as she moved around him to reach up into the cabinet over the fridge. Weirdly enough, she felt more comfortable with him _in_ her apartment than she had outside the bar as they waited for the Uber.

“Hey! Manhandling your guests, what kind of woman are you, Kiara?” He teased, grasping at his shoulder dramatically.

“It’s Kie.” She found herself saying, surprising herself. Kie was typically the nickname her friends used for her and she didn’t often let people she hadn’t known more than two hours, use it, but she felt like JJ was a special case. She didn’t know why, but it felt right.

“Thanks Kie. I really appreciate you letting me come over — the weird stranger you thought was trying to hit you up.”

“You’re welcome. And you _are_ weird, but I actually don’t mind it.” Kie smiled at him for real this time, not the fake, reflexive smile that she had offered him as a stranger at the bar, but a genuine, cheek stretching smile. 

“I’m an acquired taste.” JJ shrugged before stepping closer. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. They had just met and here she was standing in her kitchen barefoot looking up at him with a fond smile tracing her lips. 

_When had she ever felt such an instant connection with someone?_ She thought, biting her lip, _if you ignore the awkward first meeting._ She suddenly wished they could go back to that bar and he would buy her a drink, but then she remembered the bottle of tequila she was holding and she flushed, praying her inward thoughts hadn’t been displayed across her face for him to read like a screen gantry hanging over the interstate. 

“So is this.” She lifted the bottle and he seemed to remember that they hadn’t walked into the kitchen to flirt, but to get a drink.

“You’re right. So, where are the glasses hidden around here?” He asked, gaze shifting from cabinet to cabinet. 

“I don’t know where you come from  
but we keep our dishes _inside_ the cabinets here.” She teased and he leveled her with a sarcastic smile.

“Oh, right? I forgot this was a girl’s apartment where everything is put back where it goes. The guys I live with just leave their dishes laying around and if they ever do get to washing them, they sit on the countertop until someone uses them.”

“Girl’s apartment? You mean, women, right?” She asked, turning to glance at him as she lifted two glasses from the cabinet over the dishwasher. 

“Yeah. That’s what I meant.” His smile dropped but an entirely different expression filled his eyes and she swallowed hard as she turned to pour the drinks, trying to ignore the way her hands slightly shook.

_Get a grip, Kiara._

“What should we toast to?” She handed over his glass, the tips of his fingers grazing across the back of her hand as he took it from her. 

His eyes weren’t quite serious as he looked down at her but she felt a certain levity in his demeanor that hadn’t been there moments before. 

“How about to ‘new friends and new beginnings’?” 

“Okay.” Kie smiled slightly, dropping her gaze to her glass for a moment before staring into his eyes.

“To new beginnings.” She purposely omitted the friend's part and she watched as his Adam's apple bobbed before he lifted the glass to his lips. _Good, he deserves to be on the other end of this whole back-and-forth game_ , she thought before taking a swallow. 

She walked out of the kitchen into the living room, grateful to find him following her so she didn’t have to play the doting hostess. She found she minded him being here less and less the more she looked into his eyes and watched an intriguing smile play against his lips. She wondered what those lips would feel like against hers but she pushed the thought away as she sat down and tucked her legs underneath her. 

“Wow.” JJ looked out over top of the city, the skyline visible through the windows that covered the opposite wall. “I mean, I knew Sarah Cameron had money compared to JB. But this? This is a whole different level of luxury.”

Kie flushed. She knew having money was something that other people envied. She had never been the type to flash her wealth around. She worked a day job and paid for her own schooling, but her parents were not middle class like she assumed JJ’s were. 

“There’s nothing wrong with it.” He offered, apparently noticing her mood shift. “It’s just this view. Amazing. If I lived here, I don’t think I could ever focus on anything but watching the clouds float across the sky.”

“I like to watch the sun come up before I leave for work every morning.”

He came to sit down beside her and she shifted so she wouldn’t have to keep turning her head to look at him. “Sounds nice. I’m not an early riser but I can see how that would make you want to get up every morning. A new day and all that.”

The way he spoke, he made it sound like he didn’t look forward to waking up each morning and she sensed a well of sadness beneath his carefully put on facade. She was surprised he was sharing so much with her seeing as they had just met, but she found herself opening up to him too. Letting her walls down one by one as the seconds ticked by. 

“God, I’m so sorry. Apparently those margaritas hit me harder than I thought. I’m not usually this sappy or one of those people who opens up so easily.” Kie leaned an elbow on her knee, pressing a hand to her forehead before running it over the top of her hair.

“It’s cool. I’m always around a bunch of frat bros who think airing their feelings is hugging after a win at beer pong and immediately apologizing with a ‘no homo.’”

Kie snorted, shaking her head as she set her glass down on the coffee table. “I’m sure they’re very intellectual.”

“Nah, but I don’t mind it. I hang around them when I’ve got nothing better to do. My best friend Pope is the smart one and I hear enough intelligent conversation from him every day so I think I’m good.” 

“I thought John B was your best friend.” Kie leaned back against the couch, one elbow resting on top of the cool leather and tucked her legs underneath her like a pre-kindergartener at circle time, all of her attention focused on JJ.

He didn’t seem to mind it, making himself comfortable like he was at home, which Kie shouldn’t have been surprised at. Someone who was as easy going as JJ Maybank, probably would feel at ease anywhere.

“Well, yeah. We’re all best friends. Have been since third and fourth grade. Best guys I know and I know they’ll always have my back.”

Kiara felt her heart warm at the softening expression on his face as he talked about his love for his friends. It was rare to find such friendships, especially ones that lasted past the fractious high school years and beyond, where everyone’s life was changing and people moved on and away. 

“Except when it comes to this mysterious item which you haven’t even mentioned since we walked in the door.”

“Yeah, well. I can’t blame John B. I would be distracted too, if I was hanging around this apartment all the time with two beautiful women.”

“You’re a charmer, is that it?”

JJ shrugged one shoulder, tracing one finger along the seam where the fabric met on the top of the couch. Kie tried not to focus on the movement but the leanness of his hands drew her eye, like a cat eyeing a taunting string. “I’ve heard that plenty of times before. It’s not like I mean anything by it...it’s just who I am.”

“Oh no. I didn’t mean…” Kie reached out to still his hand by laying hers on top of it. “I didn’t mean it as a bad thing. Just— it’s working too well on me and I don’t know how to handle it.”

“Is that right?” He lifted his head, catching her eye and she felt like the breath was stolen from her lungs, the room that had just been full of all the oxygen she needed, now closed off as she got lost in his eyes.

She figured she couldn’t speak, the feeling clenching in her chest tight as a vice so all she could do was nod. 

His demeanor changed again and Kie wanted to throw herself at him, first meetings be damned, but she didn’t want to push him. They had just met after all and it wouldn’t do to look too desperate, no matter that she longed to feel the texture of his hair beneath her fingers, the fierce press of his lips to the pulse in her throat and the violent throbbing of his heartbeat against hers. 

Trajectory was one of those things that she had only read about on her math tests, those ridiculous math questions about trains and miles of track, but she suddenly knew why her teachers had wanted to know about the rate of speed as they moved in towards each other, inevitability pulling them together like an ever tightening invisible string.

“Kie?” He asked softly, his hand coming to rest on her bare knee where it peeked out from under her skirt. She had to force herself to focus, trying to determine what he was asking her as goosebumps erupted across her skin from the warmth of his skin on hers. 

She hummed a response all her attention focused on where their skin met and the deepening blue of his eyes. 

_Was she crazy to consider kissing a guy that she had just met?_ She wondered, but it’s not like she was a nun who never had a one night stand with a stranger. She felt like this instant connection and the intensity of her interest couldn’t fizzle out after just one encounter. She didn’t want to watch him walk out the door and that would be the end of it. She suddenly desperately wanted him in her life and not because of the fervent desire that she felt coursing through her as they moved closer and closer. 

“Is this too fast?” He asked, sincerity and concern creasing his eyebrows and she longed to reach up and smooth his worry away but she didn’t. 

Pushing her racing thoughts away forcefully, she allowed her gaze to slip down to his lips in the same moment that his fingers tightened on her knee reflexively and she practically purred as his touch feathered across her cheek. 

“No. I— I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed is all.”

JJ moved as if to pull back and she grasped his retreating hand and pressed it back to her cheek, the rings on his fingers cool against her overheated skin. “It’s not a bad thing, the opposite actually… I just don’t want this moment to end too soon. What if this is all we have?”

“I’m not planning on running, if that's what you’re worried about. I’ve still got to retrieve my favorite shirt after all.”

Kie pulled back then, disbelief causing her mouth to drop open. “You begged to come over here for a damn shirt. What the hell?”

“What?” His voice puffing out on a quiet laugh, “That shirt is very important to me.”

“You came up to a complete stranger in a bar for a shirt?” 

“Well, yeah,” He shrugged, a sheepish smile pulling at his lips, “That and the fact that you’re incredibly beautiful. I couldn’t let a moment like this pass me by.”

“So, you think I’m just gonna fall into your arms now, is that it?” It was her turn to attempt to move away but he stopped her, his fingers trailing across her cheek to her chin and then down her neck, causing her to shiver involuntarily. 

“No. I swear, I didn’t expect to feel this way either. You’re— you’re funny and cute, and I really want the chance to see you scrunch your nose at me again like you did in the kitchen earlier. I just— won’t you give me a chance?”

She searched his gaze, searching for a hint of a lie but he gazed right back at her, eyes steady as a lighthouse in a storm. 

“God, you better not make me regret this.” She huffed out, but the distracting play of his fingers against the strap of her tank top made her forget all about her irritation.

“No promises.” His eyes twinkled before his hand was slipping beneath her hair to pull her in and their lips touched. 

Kie lifted her hands to rest agaisnt his cheeks as he tilted his head, lips moving against hers in a delicate slow burning torture. She had kissed guys before and a girl or two but she never remembered the first kiss feeling like this — new, exciting but also familiar like they were meant to be here in this moment, soft touches and softer lips. 

The next thing she knew his fingers were sunk deep into her curls and her hands pressed him insistently closer until their chests met. She propelled him backwards and he huffed out a laugh when he landed against the arm rest, blue eyes hazy as he glanced up at her from under insanely beautiful eyelashes. 

“Well, was it everything you were expecting or should I call you a car?”

“I mean— it could be better.” He teased, lips quirked up on one side and she moved to smack him in the chest but he intercepted her hands, dragging them apart which caused her to land straight onto his chest. 

“Yeah, I think I like this better.” His thumbs pressed into her hips and Kie should have felt self-conscious with her skirt hiked up to her thighs, but his eyes were admiring and playful. 

“You’re lucky you’re cute and John B approves. I was so ready to hand you that stupid t-shirt and force you out the door until…” She shifted to look down at his shirt, buttons shining under the soft, dim lights that Sarah had insisted on because they “set the mood.”

“Until what?” 

“Until you charmed me.”

“Well, it _is_ a talent of mine.” He boasted and she reached forward and pinched him, his eyes brightening as he laughed.

“Ow. You’re a pain in my ass.” 

“Shut up and show me some more of your talents.” She added, biting her lip, and he obliged as she ran her fingers through his golden hair.


End file.
